Movie magic de Español

Students attend the annual Chicago Latino Film Festival

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Leaving at 7:30 a.m. on April 12th, the Spanish speaking experts of Thrush’s, Fisher’s, and Grañado’s Spanish IV ventured into the city for exposure to Latino culture. With the film festival not exclusive to Mexican films, the traveling Corsairs also watched the Colombian film Por Mis Hijos Lo Que Sea (“Anything for My Kids”). Prior to the movie, the classes stopped for an early lunch.

“Before we reach the AMC for the film, we are going to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba,” Thrush said.

The troop of students were treated to Spanish cuisine, known as tapas, at this Chicago eatery. Senior and four-year Spanish student Justin Ruether’s anticipation was building for this unique field trip.

“I’m most excited about the food and going to the restaurant,” Ruether said.

Ruether enjoys the application Spanish has in his everyday life even if it is as simple as being able to read a menu at an authentic Mexican restaurant. Although he isn’t planning on taking the language with him in his career, he still finds ways to apply to everyday life. Plus, the second language is a great resume-builder.

Spanish is a gateway for me to experience other cultures.

— Will Mahoney

“Through learning Spanish, I’ve learned how to have conversations with my Hispanic neighbors,” Ruether said.

Senior Will Mahoney was more excited about the actual film.

“I’m most excited to go to the film festival and see how the movies differ from what I’m used to,” Mahoney said. “It should be awesome from what I heard!”

As a student in Thrush’s class, Mahoney took Spanish as more than just another class to fill a foreign language requirement. He’s hoping to use his four years of Spanish learning to help him advance his career.

“Spanish is a gateway for me to experience other cultures,” Mahoney said. “I hope to further my Spanish education as I pursue a degree in International Business in college.”

Through both of these differing outlooks on the out-of-school adventure, this field trip wasn’t one-dimensional. The point wasn’t just about the movie or the food but about the Latino culture.

“It’s a great opportunity to connect to culture and historical themes with film and see challenges faced by people of Spanish speaking cultures,” Thrush said. “And to improve our language comprehension and speaking abilities. The food is also good!”